Luis Suarez stole the spotlight by apparently biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini. Suarez, Uruguay's talented striker, has a history of bad behavior, including three biting incidents in the past four years.

Luis Suarez stole the spotlight by apparently biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini. Suarez, Uruguay's talented striker, has a history of bad behavior, including three biting incidents in the past four years.

Photo: Matthias Hangst, Getty Images

Luis Suarez's antics should not be tolerated

1 / 5

Back to Gallery

The World Cup's massive power shift continues. Spain, England and now Italy have departed. There is resurrection for CONCACAF and pure validation for South America. So many unforgettable characters have forced their way into the daily conversations worldwide.

But there is one such figure who no longer deserves the stage. If there's any sense of justice within the World Cup hierarchy, Uruguay's Luis Suarez will be banned from the tournament.

This is a man who, confronted with a particularly annoying opponent, chooses to bite. He does so with great fury and purpose, like a lion devouring prey. He has done it three times over the past four years, and though he seems to prefer the shoulder, he once bit an arm. The jokes will be flying, all about vampires and overbites and comments such as this from Toronto Star columnist Bruce Arthur: "Oh, like you've never bitten three different people in front of millions of witnesses."

The most proper response, however, is anger. And retribution.

This was a game of enormous consequence: Uruguay advancing with its 1-0 victory, Italy headed home in shock. But the details, largely the game-deciding goal by Diego Godin, soon will be forgotten. What to do with Suarez? The video evidence isn't 100 percent conclusive, nor was a punitive card issued, but it appeared that Suarez, with that downward-lurching motion that has become his trademark, took a bite out of Giorgio Chiellini - and then, pathetically, reeled to the turf in manufactured agony when Chiellini dared throw an arm in response.

Everyone marvels at Suarez's talent. He's one of the five most deadly goal-scorers in the world, coming off a sensational season at Liverpool. He's also a magnet for controversy, from racially abusing an opponent (and drawing an eight-game suspension in the Premier League) to a goal-line handball at a crucial stage of the Uruguay-Ghana World Cup quarterfinals in 2010.

And now this, a moment of crazed, compulsive behavior that makes it impossible to watch Uruguay without studying a man's teeth.

Consider, for a moment, the silliness of yellow-card suspensions. This is a violation seldom associated with excessive violence or evil intent; it might represent just a split-second of careless aggression. And yet, if you draw a single yellow card in separate games, you're suspended for the next match - an absolutely ludicrous, over-the-top punishment that has benched the Netherlands' Robin van Persie, Australia's Tim Cahill, Ghana's Sulley Muntari and Mexico's Jose Juan Vazquez.

If that's all it takes to put someone on the sideline, then Suarez can't be seen again in this World Cup. Multiple sources have indicated that FIFA will indeed bring down the hammer, and let's hope these beleaguered executives forget about television ratings or any other benefits gained from Suarez's continued presence.

I have found a cure, incidentally, for the Suarez blues: watching Miguel Herrera work the sideline while coaching Mexico.

Until recently, when pondering the image of a World Cup coach, I'd picture Germany's stylish Joachim Loew, always just moments away from a GQ photo shoot, or England's deeply troubled Roy Hodgson, perhaps considering a halftime run to the nearest tavern. I never imagined one of these guys rolling around the grass with an exuberant player, or celebrating with such gusto that the goalkeeper races halfway across the field to leap into his arms.

I was already sold on Mexico as a vibrant, thoroughly entertaining side with all sorts of panache. Herrera has become can't-miss theater all by himself - and those were just two of the unforgettable scenes from Monday's 3-1 victory over Croatia.

The United States has a long, contentious soccer history with Mexico, but the World Cup has a way of rearranging one's emotions. Alexi Lalas, the ESPN analyst who grew to despise the Mexican team during his playing days and ensuing years, has been unabashedly delighted by its flair, explosive attack and especially Herrera, a show in himself. Perhaps you remember Diego Maradona as an angst-ridden bundle of emotions when he coached Argentina four years ago. That was nothing. Herrera, in joy and in rage, makes Maradona look like an extra in the high-school play.

Generally a strong and influential presence in the World Cup, Mexico was in chaos during the qualifying. When Herrera was hired in May, he became the team's fourth coach in two months. He was given two matches to prove his worth, along with this discouraging lament from Justino Compean, president of the Mexican federation: "Nobody planned for this and nobody likes it. We are sorry for our fans and we are sorry for our sponsors."

With little to lose, Herrera, 45, figured he might as well shake things up. He insisted that his players abstain from sex and alcohol. He benched Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, who has scored 37 goals in the past four years for Manchester United, preferring to use the electrifying striker as a second-half energizer. He decided to start goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, for years a frustrated backup, just four days before the World Cup opener against Cameroon. Ochoa has allowed only one goal and staged a memorable performance in the 0-0 draw with Brazil.

You wonder how the players felt about an alcohol-free celebration after Monday's victory, sending them into the knockout stage against the Netherlands. Then again, who needs intoxication with a coach like this? In one of the really fine developments of the World Cup, Herrera has the whole world watching him.

Latest from the SFGATE homepage:

Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.